Cathy's Art Diary

Fascinating exhibition at the Imperial War Museum featuring paintings and drawings of London during the Second World War. Arranged in the themes of travel, the Thames, the street, shelter and personal stories, the images were well explained, describing the event shown and the artist.   The images were beautiful and featured many of my favourite early 20th century artists. I even found this Duncan Grant of St Pauls. Other shout outs to   some beautiful Evelyn Dunbar’s including this one on a Red Cross train, an image of soldiers on a tube platform by Henry Carr and one of camouflaged cooling towers by Colin Morris. Closes 1 November 2026 Review Times

Moving exhibition at the Imperial War Museum looking at how war affects children. The show felt mainly aimed at children but struck a balance between fun activities and serious information. It also balanced stories from the Second World War and those from conflicts since and including ongoing ones. The story was told via installations with real objects scattered around them. I found the first one moving as it shows a child’s bedroom from the Second World War when my mother was a child. The show looked at play, education, evacuees and refugees, indoctrination, home and health. There was a generous spattering of testaments to listen to and watch. I loved the way that objects on display were not just generic but told specific stories of real people who were named. Who could failed to be moved by things like this tiny bear owned by John Hajdu, a Jewish child in Hungary who was hidden by neighbours and who then lived in Soviet occupied Hungary. There was a video of him holding the ...

Beautiful exhibition at Messums London of work by contemporary artists in the theme of the totemic. Like many of the galleries over the summer this was an excuse to show work by artists they represent and in this case it was themed around the idea of totems. The blurb said "Across cultures it (the totem) has always symbolised more than a mere object: a spiritual and social emblem, imbued with energy, almost living, carrying the history of a people within it. …..But, at the heart of this exhibition is the sense that a totem is a unique expression of who we are, and of what we have chosen to value." I'm not sure I got that from the works but there we a number of artists I really like represented so I was happy. There was a beautiful small sculpture of three men by Laurence Edwards and I always delighted to see Antony Williams exquisite egg tempera portraits. New discoveries for me included wacky life sized human figures in shades of blue creating pieces of furniture ...

Interesting exhibition at Flowers Gallery of landscapes, both real and imagined, by contemporary artists. This was a lovely selection from the traditional to the more abstract. I loved this one by David Helper which, on first glance, looked very usual but when you got close you realised the brown layer at the bottom is earth applied to the canvas. There was a striking work in the window by Tai Shan Schierenberg and a lovely realistic picture of wild flowers by Gerard Neumaier which felt quite Flemish. I was interested to see a Welsh landscape by David Dawson who was Lucien Freud's assistant and inherited his studio. It's good to see him work which is less Freud like. On the more abstract side I loved Lucy Jones' bright picture of trees along a path. Closed 7 August 2026

Engaging video installation at Sadie Coles HQ by Helen Marten. The work consisted of five monologues voiced by women with images which seem to act as a stage set for the words. As far as I can make out Marten wrote the scripts and the film was animated by Adam Sinclair with a sound by Beatrice Dillon. I didn’t have time to watch all five but I happened to be there as "The Lover" began so I sat and watched it and was transfixed. The words were almost poetic with some lovely imagery that I wish I been able to note down. Closed 12 September 2026

Bright exhibition   at Sotheby's of new work by Hassan Hajjaj. I have often seen Hajjaj's work in exhibition but not seen a whole show devoted to him. He produces colourful, clear photographic portraits surrounded by a frame of multiple food tins. These works featured London cultural figures. It's only reading the blurb again now that I've realised Hajjaj designs the clothes that the sitters wear. The show included a fascinating video of him taking the pictures. I hadn’t realised before that they are photographed in the street against a textile pinned to the wall behind. I liked the way the figures seem, to have been photographed from low down so that they proudly look down to the viewer. Closed 7 August 2026